Lactuca saligna L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Asteraceae

• Scientific Name

  Lactuca saligna L.

• Description

  Species Description - Leafy-stemmed annual or biennial, the stem glabrous, 3–10 dm, more slender than in no. 7 [Lactuca serriola L.]; lvs conspicuously sagittate, linear and entire or with scattered, narrow, sometimes slightly toothed lobes, 6–15 cm, the rachis (or the lf, when entire) 3–8 mm wide, glabrous or with a few prickles on the midrib beneath and sometimes minutely stellate marginally; heads numerous in a long infl; fls 8–16, light yellow, drying blue; invol 12–18 mm in fr; achenes as in no. 7 [Lactuca serriola L.], but avg slightly smaller and narrower, merely scabrous distally, the beak commonly twice as long as the body; 2n=18. A weed in waste places; native of Europe, now found here and there in our range. Aug., Sept.

• Common Names

  willowleaf-lettuce